Base metals ended in the red last week as a revival in the dollar made them look unattractive for holders of other currencies.

On the macroeconomic front, the Dollar Index gained last week after a weekly jobless report triggered strength in the currency and momentum pushed it further through key levels. Investors will now shift their focus to a meeting of Asia Pacific nations and other Asian regional issues, including a US state visit to China next week. The dollar index gained strength yesterday on the back of risk aversion that led to a decline in equities and higher demand for the safe-haven dollar. The bounce back in the dollar has also been a technical factor and the currency may manage to trade above its 15 month lows in the near-term.

We expect base metal prices to trade with a negative bias as there is plenty of speculative money about and as such base metals have recovered to a level, nine months ago, you would never have imagined it. This surge has helped producers to say 'prices are great', so a lot of stuff that ought not to be brought back online, has been or will be.

Improving macro data, Chinese stockpiling, a falling dollar and new investor cash have helped copper prices more than double this year, analysts say.

On Friday, the dollar fell across the board after unexpectedly weak trade deficit and consumer sentiment figures stoked worries about the outlook for a US economic recovery.

London Metal Exchange Rates
Cash Buyer

Change is on November 5th as compared to October 29th 2009
In USD per tonne

1. Zinc

London Metal Exchange Rates
Cash Buyer

In USD per tonne

In USD per tonne

Zinc ended lower at USD 2,174 per tonne with LME stocks climbing 950 tonnes to total 425,200 tonnes and Shanghai stocks up 7,857 tonnes from a week earlier.

2. Nickel

London Metal Exchange Rates
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In USD per tonne

In USD per tonne

Nickel prices fell more than 8% on Thursday and hit its weakest in three and a half months on the back of technical sales and rising inventories. Nickel stocks climbed to a new high since March 1995 at 131,730 tonnes amid soft stainless steel demand. Also, China produced more than 175,000 tonnes of nickel in the first 10 months of the year, up 18 percent from a year ago.

But helping limit losses, China's state backed research group Antaike said on Friday the country's real consumption of nickel may be higher than expected. China is the world's largest metals consumer.

3. Tin

Cash Buyer

In USD per tonne

In USD per tonne

The Kuala Lumpur Tin Market is expected to trade range bound this week in the absence of fresh leads amid a weak underlying sentiment. Price of tin is expected to move between US$14,700 and US$14,800 per tonne next week with buyers and sellers not in an aggressive mode.

Although demand for the commodity currently remains flat, the movement of the metal's price on the London Metal Exchange will also have some effect on the local market.

4. Aluminium

Cash Buyer

In USD per tonne

In USD per tonne

Among other industrial metals, only aluminium closed at USD 1,940 a tonne. Latest data showed LME stocks fell 2,725 tonnes to total 4.5 million tonnes, extending a recent trend of moves away from record high stockpiles.

But in China, traders and smelter sources said privately held stocks of primary aluminium may have increased more than 40% from August to about a million tonnes.

5. Copper

London Metal Exchange Rates
Cash Buyer

In USD per tonne

In USD per tonne

Copper prices didn’t decline sharply despite a rise in LME inventories as labour worries cushioned the downside. LME inventories climbed 4,800 tonnes and crossed the 400,000 mark for the first time since 6th May. A strike at the Antamina copper and zinc mine in northern Peru is looking more likely, with almost half of unionized workers there voting against a final contract offer from management. At BHP Billiton's Spence mine in Chile, employees have called for management to accept their offer to halt the strike that has now lasted for more than a month.

Latest data showed LME copper stocks rose 1,500 tonnes to 403,625 tonnes, the highest since late April. In Shanghai, warehouse copper stocks hit a new 5-1/2-year high.

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